1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera control apparatus, a camera control method, a camera and a computer-readable storage medium to be used for a tracking camera system arranged to track a tracking object with a plurality of cameras by changing use of the tracking camera from one camera over to another as necessary.
2. Description of Related Art
It has been known to arrange a tracking camera system to designate an object within a video image on display as a tracking object and to track the designated object by controlling the image picking-up direction of a camera according to the movement of the object.
Meanwhile, a system has recently been developed to connect a camera to a computer terminal by means of an RS serial cable or the like and to permit panning, tilting and zooming operations on the camera from the computer terminal. In such a system, some camera operating software is provided at the computer terminal for sending control commands to the camera by using a keyboard or a mouse, so that the camera can be operated from the computer terminal.
However, the prior art arrangement has presented a problem in that the attempt to track an object has to be given up at a point where the tracking object happens to come out of a shootable (trackable) range of the camera.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a tracking camera system which permits tracking an object with a plurality of cameras by changing the use of them from one camera over to another and is arranged to be capable of adequately capturing the tracking object without missing the tracking object even after one camera in use for tracking is changed over to another camera.
To attain the above object, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera control apparatus for controlling a plurality of cameras having tracking means for tracking an object, the camera control apparatus comprising obtaining means for obtaining, from the camera which is tracking the object, (a) information on a position of the object within a picked-up image and (b) information on an object distance, and control means for performing such control as to change over a camera which tracks the object among the plurality of cameras on the basis of (a) the information on the position of the object within the picked-up image and (b) the information on the object distance obtained by the obtaining means.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera control method for controlling a plurality of cameras having tracking means for tracking an object, the camera control method comprising an obtaining step of obtaining, from the camera which is tracking the object, (a) information on a position of the object within a picked-up image and (b) information on an object distance, and a control step of performing such control as to change over a camera which tracks the object among the plurality of cameras on the basis of (a) the information on the position of the object within the picked-up image and (b) the information on the object distance obtained by the obtaining step.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a storage medium which stores therein a program for executing a process for controlling a plurality of cameras having tracking means for tracking an object, the process comprising obtaining, from the camera which is tracking the object, (a) information on a position of the object within a picked-up image and (b) information on an object distance, and performing such control as to change over a camera which tracks the object among the plurality of cameras on the basis of (a) the information on the position of the object within the picked-up image and (b) the information on the object distance.
The above and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.